A US aircraft flew to NKorea Friday to collect the remains of American troops killed in the Korean Conflict, the latest step in ongoing diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang.

NKorea is expected to hand over the remains of a number of US service members who were killed during the ‘War’ Friday, the 65th anni of the armistice that ended the fighting, according to reports in SKorean media.

That exchange would mean that 1 Key part of the agreement reached between President Trump and NKorean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last month is being partially fulfilled.

Repatriation of American remains from the 1950-53 conflict was part of the agreement signed between US President Donald Trump and NKorean leader Kim Jong Un at their landmark summit in Singapore last month.

The US military transport plane took off from the Osan Air Base in South Korea at 5:55 a local time (2055 GMT Thursday).

The aircraft’s destination was the Kalma airport in North Korea’s eastern city of Wonsan, the agency added.

“It is believed to have landed there an hour later,” the official was quoted as saying. “It will return (to SKorea) today.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that the repatriations will begin soon, but did not confirm media reports about the 1st transfer of some 50 sets of remains.

The SKorean official said it was unclear how many sets of remains will be returned on the mission.

US defence officials are expected to examine the remains in South Korea before sending them on for forensic identification in Hawaii, the agency added.

More than 35,000 Americans were killed on the Korean Peninsula during the war, out of which around 7,700 are still considered MIA, including 5,300 in NKorea alone, according to the Pentagon.

Between Ys 1990 and 2005, 229 sets of remains from the North were repatriated, but those operations were suspended when ties deteriorated over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

Paul Ebeling

Paul A. Ebeling, polymath, excels in diverse fields of knowledge. Pattern Recognition Analyst in Equities, Commodities and Foreign Exchange and author of “The Red Roadmaster’s Technical Report” on the US Major Market Indices™, a highly regarded, weekly financial market letter, he is also a philosopher, issuing insights on a wide range of subjects to a following of over 250,000 cohorts. An international audience of opinion makers, business leaders, and global organizations recognizes Ebeling as an expert.